Lancaster Web Designer from Somalia Tells his Story in Lancaster Online

Somalia to Lancaster County: ‘We had nice lives, and they were taken’

All that remains from Mustafa Nuur’s happy life in Somalia is a simple white sheet, the bed linen on which he lay his head and let the tears fall during his final night at home.

A few hours of fitful sleep would give way to the darkest of mornings, a somber journey to Kenya when he was just 13 years old, and an abrupt entry into adulthood.

That sheet, neatly folded and preserved a decade later, is his last tangible connection to the culture and the people he was forced to leave behind.

They rent their home from Chris Stoltzfus, who has taken Nuur under his wing. Owner of E-Impact Marketing, Stoltzfus hires and train refugees like Nuur to help design websites for Plain-sect clients.

Nuur expects to begin his formal education in a web development program at HACC this fall. He is delighted to study something as straightforward as technology, given the lessons in survival he’s had to learn over the last 10 years.

“There’s this idea that you just show up in America. But you go through so much scrutiny and questioning,” says Nuur, who shares his story and encourages others to do the same to improve understanding of the plight of the refugees.

“I want people to know why I’m a refugee. We had nice lives, and they were taken.”

Read the full article at Lancaster Online.

(Image from Lancaster Online Article)